Doing time for packing heat

last updated 8 January 2015

London

Doing time for packing heatAnyone caught with a handgun will soon get a minimum sentence of five years in prison, British Home Secretary David Blunkett said this week. Handguns are already illegal in the U.K. But since New Year’s Eve, when two teenage girls were killed in the crossfire of a gang fight in Birmingham, British politicians have been lamenting the growing use of guns by criminals and gangs. Culture Minister Kim Howells blamed violent lyrics sung by “boasting, macho, idiot rappers.” Such lyrics, he said, “have created a culture where killing is almost a fashion accessory.” In the U.K., there are 1.3 firearm homicides per million residents each year, compared with 62.4 in the U.S.